Construction of Mercy Medical Center – West Lakes is proceeding as scheduled, despite rumors that the project has been halted due to budget constraints, a Mercy official said this morning. “We have heard it from a couple of different places, too,” said Laura Vanden Bosch, a Mercy spokeswoman. “The answer is always the same: It’s progressing and it’s on schedule.” The expected completion date for the new West Des Moines hospital is Oct. 1, she said.

Nissan Motor Co. announced today its plans to eliminate 20,000 jobs, or 8.5 percent of its global work force, as it prepares for a net loss of 265 billion yen, or $2.9 billion, for the fiscal year. Japan’s third-largest automaker hopes the workforce reduction will help the company cope with what it expects will be its first annual loss in nine years.

General Growth Properties Inc., owner of Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines, announced late Friday that it has pushed back the release date of its fourth-quarter results by two weeks, to Feb. 23, and that company officials “will not conduct a conference call this quarter,” the Chicago Tribune reported. Last week, the company announced it had reached an agreement with lenders on a six-week extension on debt scheduled to mature last week, but still needs to refinance billions of dollars in debt that is set to come due during 2009. The company said Friday that year-end results will now be released after the close of U.S. market on Feb. 23.

Whirlpool Corp. announced today that its fourth-quarter profits fell 76 percent to $44 million, or 60 cents per share, from $187 million, or $2.38 per share, a year earlier, CNNMoney reported. The company’s quarterly sales fell 19 percent to $4.3 billion.

Des Moines International Airport (DSM) announced that Delta Air Lines Inc. will resume nonstop service to Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) beginning June 4. The daily service will use a 50-seat regional jet and will depart DSM at 6:20 a.m. and arrive at SLC at 8:10 a.m. The return flight will depart SLC at 5 p.m. and land at DSM at 7:30 p.m. Just last week, Delta announced it was dropping about 170 gates nationwide as the carrier merges its operations with Northwest Airlines Corp.

Principal Financial Group Inc. will release its fourth-quarter results today at 3 p.m. Iowa time. A copy of the earnings release will be posted on the company’s Web site, www.principal.com/investor. Tomorrow at 9 a.m. Iowa time, President and CEO Larry Zimpleman and Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Terry Lillis will host a conference call to discuss the results. Interested parties may listen to the call by dialing (800) 374-1609.

Gregory Abel, president and CEO of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., has been elected to a three-year term on the Drake University Board of Trustees. Abel also serves as CEO and director for a number of companies, including PacifiCorp, CE Electric UK and Northern Natural Gas Co., and is an active member on the boards of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, Kum & Go LC, Wells Fargo Iowa and Mid-Iowa Council Boy Scouts of America.

Norene Mostkoff has joined Hospice of Central Iowa as president and CEO. Mostkoff previously served as chief operating officer of HospiceCare Inc. in Madison, Wis., where she was responsible for all of the day-to-day clinical and support operations that served nearly 600 patients each day. Since 2005, she also held positions as vice president of operations and business development and also as director of business development.